Karen Rubinstein, Morgan State University, Director, Academic Technology Services
ADA Compliance Leads To Better Learning Design
- Compliance with legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act is one way institutions can begin to offer assistive technologies, but it should go deeper than those basic requirements.
- Compliance and needs assessments should reach deep into an institution’s different business units to determine whether existing technologies are appropriate for and can be extended to increase accessibility for the whole school.
“Determine all the different units on campus that can contribute to the effort. You might discover bits and pieces of technology that you didn’t realize were there and that you can bring together under one umbrella.”
Several years ago, Morgan State University started offering online courses, says Karen Rubinstein, director of Academic Technology Services. “But then we had to go back and make sure that all the software that we use has Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) statements and is compliant—even our student registration. Now, we always take steps to make sure
that the vendors we work with have compliant products. We make sure we’re cognizant of that.”
This is an excerpt from Expanding Educational Opportunity. The eBook was generously sponsored by Blackboard.
